what else do not feds see in the economy, peter. empleghts overall the feds saw the economy growing at a measured pace in recent weeks but it said that some business context said that they were worried about uncertainty over the battle of the fiscal cliff in washington. that concern might be showing up in the manufacturing sector. the feds said that in some places around the country, manufacturing was slowing down and actually contracting outright. but it said that hiring was up modestly most places and with the holidays coming up. it said that the outlook for retail sales was mostly upbeat. shep? >> shepard: what's with the sirens? is the place on fire? >> no. there is escort going out here from the white house. >> you don't have much clout there. >> the vice president apparently is leaving. >> shepard: he might as well. what will the fed do with today's report? it has a meeting in a couple of weeks, you know. >> this was okay report. more importantly it was not strong enough for the fed to back off stimulus programs keeping intere